So I went to bed early again last night. As it turns out, it's a good thing I did because I had to get up at 4 to take care of a sick puppy. Speaking of sick puppies, Battlekow, even if I had no links today I would've posted anyway to push your post-game fanshot farther down the page. That's just unnecessary.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

The Official Site is reporting that Ryan Braun felt better yesterday and expects to play this weekend against the Dodgers. This greatly decreases the chance that Laynce Nix will get a single at-bat during his brief stint as a fourth outfielder.

Nix was brought up when Russell Branyan was placed on the DL with an oblique strain. Apparently 19 plate appearances over the team's last 20 games (including nine total PA's in August) were too much for him to handle.

In-Between Hops has updated the Fielder HR chart and notes that Prince has once again hit his stride.

How dominant would Team USA be if they could still have Ben Sheets pitching for them? In The Official Site's preview for today's game, Sheets remembers his Olympic glory in Sydney.

Jeremy Jeffress experienced slightly less glory yesterday in Huntsville, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks in just 2 1/3 innings in his Southern League debut.

Bugs and Cranks has the Brewers 8th (up one spot) in their most recent power rankings.

Big League Stew further destroyed their own credibility by posting a list of the 25 most improbable big league success stories that includes several guys who have racked up less than a full week of big league action, but mysteriously misses the most obvious Brewer. What part of "last year I managed in the minors, this year I'm hitting .304/.337/.490 for a likely playoff team" isn't an improbable story?

On injuries:

Carlos Guillen has a pinched nerve in his lower back. The team is saying 2-3 days but it could be more.
Derek Jeter missed last night's game to recover from being overrated fouling a ball off his foot Tuesday.
Mike Lowell is on the DL with an injury to his right oblique.
A's CF Ryan Sweeney is on the DL with a sprained right thumb.
Tigers RP Joel Zumaya is back on the DL with a sore shoulder.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz says next week's road trip to Milwaukee and New York is make-or-break for the Astros season. Right now they're the fourth best team in their own division and BP Postseason odds has their shot at the playoffs at .4%, or about one in 250. How much more broken can you get?

Last night, though, they did manage to send 12 men to the plate in the sixth inning of their game with the Giants despite only picking up 3 official at bats. Four walks (1 intentional), three HBP, two sac flies and two singles led to a six-run inning.

Did any of us expect Zach Jackson to be a major league starting pitcher this season? He'll make his AL debut for the Indians tonight, filling the rotation spot vacated when Paul Byrd was sent to Boston.

Oh, and Keith Law is commenting and speculating on the financial issues facing Whole Foods.

Drink up.

Sal Baxamusa at the Hardball Times recently published a very useful tool: downloadable Excel spreadsheets that produce Marcel projections for players. Marcels are basically weighted averages and are surprisingly competitive with advanced projection systems like PECOTA or ZiPS. For our purposes--predicting the most likely immediate future performance to evaluate, for instance, whether we should get a new second baseman--Marcel will do just fine. So, let's see what we've got:

Jason Kendall

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.258	.339	.333
Balance	.259	.330	.329
Total	.258	.334	.331

Prince Fielder

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.270	.357	.488
Balance	.282	.374	.531
Total	.275	.364	.507

Rickie Weeks

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.217	.320	.367
Balance	.247	.357	.409
Total	.231	.335	.386

Bill Hall

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.234	.294	.431
Balance	.260	.326	.465
Total	.246	.308	.446

Russell Branyan

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.245	.331	.604
Balance	.236	.332	.469
Total	.239	.332	.515

J.J. Hardy

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.283	.352	.476
Balance	.273	.335	.448
Total	.279	.343	.463

Ryan Braun

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.286	.324	.549
Balance	.303	.354	.567
Total	.293	.337	.556

Mike Cameron

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.231	.320	.481
Balance	.246	.329	.443
Total	.240	.325	.461

Gabe Kapler

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.315	.352	.517
Balance	.272	.332	.425
Total	.294	.341	.471

Corey Hart

Period	AVG	OBP	SLG
Current	.289	.327	.504
Balance	.285	.340	.496
Total	.287	.331	.501

Ben Sheets

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	2.85	123	109	108	28	1.11
Balance	3.47	87	81	71	22	1.18
Total	3.11	210	190	179	50	1.14

CC Sabathia

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	3.67	137.3	130	137	40	124
Balance	3.21	98	94	86	25	1.22
Total	3.48	235	224	223	65	1.23

Jeff Suppan

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	4.71	101.3	118	55	44	1.60
Balance	4.44	72	82	42	27	1.52
Total	4.60	173	200	97	71	1.57

Manny Parra

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	3.78	100	99	78	50	1.49
Balance	3.98	71	70	57	31	1.42
Total	3.86	171	169	135	81	1.46

Dave Bush

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	4.39	106.7	97	66	26	1.15
Balance	4.19	76	76	52	19	1.25
Total	4.30	182	173	118	45	1.19

Son of Clung

Period	ERA	IP	H	K	BB	WHIP
Current	4.16	75.7	66	64	36	1.35
Balance	4.53	54	51	40	24	1.40
Total	4.32	129	117	104	60	1.37

The All-Star Futures Game is on ESPN2 at 11:30 AM CT (no, not a misprint), with the pregame show airing an hour beforehand. "Third baseman" Mat Gamel, unequivocally the crown jewel of the system, is the only Milwaukee farmhand playing, thought erstwhile Brewers Matt LaPorta and Will Inman are also both on the US team, as is unsigned 2005 draft pick Jake Arrieta.

Brewers Futures Game alumni include Kyle Peterson (1999), Ben Sheets (2000), Nick Neugebauer (2001), Corey Hart (2002), Bill Hall (2002), J.J. Hardy (2003), Dave Krynzel (2003), Prince Fielder (2004), Rickie Weeks (2004), Hernan Iribarren (2005), Nelson Cruz (2005), Ryan Braun (2006), Yovani Gallardo (2006), and Alcides Escobar (2007).

Current or former Brewers who played on in the game prior to joining the organization include Francisco Cordero (Detroit - 1999), Russell Branyan (Cleveland - 1999), Alex Sanchez (Tampa Bay - 1999), Peter Bergeron (Montreal - 1999), Joe Lawrence (Toronto - 1999), Tomo Ohka (Boston - 1999, 2000), Ryan Anderson (Seattle - 1999, 2000), CC Sabathia (Cleveland - 2000), Eric Munson (Detroit - 2000), Mike Rivera (Detroit - 2001), Grant Balfour (Minnesota - 2001), Lyle Overbay (Arizona - 2002), Brett Evert (Atlanta - 2002), Jorge de la Rosa (Boston - 2002, 2003), Chris Narveson (St. Louis - 2003), Jose Capellan (Atlanta - 2004), and Zach Jackson (Toronto - 2005).

Feel free to use this as a game thead, or just to talk about what a studly slugger Gamel is.

I'm not quite ready for a full time return to the active roster quite yet, but I am home for a couple of days, so the Mug returns temporarily today and tomorrow, and hopefully for good in early July. Thanks to Jeff for filling in admirably during my extended absence. Without him, life might imitate Garfield minus Garfield. I'll be back full-time soon.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.

Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.

Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.

I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.

Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.

Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.

Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.

Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:

Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.

Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.

Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.

It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.

Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?

Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.

If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.

On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.

That's all for today. Drink up.

Last night's game was fun.  I liked this, and I also liked this.

• BR Box Score
• FanGraphs Win Probability Chart

Yesterday was better for the NL--the senior circuit won 6 of 14 interleague matchups.  For the second day in a row, though, the Brewers were the only Central team to win.  That moves us 3 back of the Cards and 6.5 back of the Cubs.

Speaking of the Cubs, you may have heard that Carlos Zambrano left with some kind of injury last night.  Jim Edmonds left too.  No word yet on what's going on with Z, but we do know he's getting an MRI.

David Riske will rejoin the team for the finale today.  He was in Milwaukee yesterday, but having pitched an inning in Nashville on Tuesday, the club decided not to activate him until today.

I haven't seen any hints about who will go to make room, but I looked up the Brewers relief stats for the last 14 days.  DiFelice has thrown the most innings out of the pen, with a 2.70 ERA and a 8/0 K/BB ratio.  Dillard has thrown the fewest (2 innings).  Julian Tavarez has a 13.50 ERA in 4 frames in that stretch.  Not that we need an extra arm, but as I said yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised if Iribarren goes back down and we end up with 13 pitchers.

Russell Branyan is very good against righties.  Bill Hall is very good against lefties.  Neither of them is very good against same-side pitchers.  Please remember this if you are at a game and are tempted to boo when Hall pinch-hits for Branyan with a lefty on the mound and no one warming in the bullpen.

Battlekow fanshotted it, but I figured it deserved a spot in the Cup as well: This summer, you'll be drinking Robinade Old School Lemonade.  So this is why Robin Yount didn't want to be on the coaching staff anymore.

Richie Sexson has been a disaster for the Mariners, but I didn't think it would come to this: The Mariners may just release him.  That would be the most serious condemnation of Bavasi's tenure--I don't have time to track down a link, but I believe that either Will Carroll or Ken Rosenthal reported last July that someone claimed Sexson off of waivers, meaning that the Mariners could have just dumped his contract for nothing.  Speaking of Bavasi, it's worth a few minutes to listen to Dan Szymborski's audio tribute.

Finally, here's the last installment of Geoff Young's interview with Sandy Alderson.

Day game today, so see you back here around 1 CT.

Another short one, but hey--you can get wasted once the game starts.

• BR Box Score of suck
• FanGraphs Win Probability chart of suck

Jim Powell interviewed first round pick Brett Lawrie.  You can listen here.

McCalvy reports that Branyan wants to cut down on his strikeouts .  To me, that sounds like Trey Parker and Matt Stone saying they want less profanity in South Park.  For the most part, this is a delayed version of the typical spring training narrative of why the player is going to be so much better this year.  Fortunately in this case, Branyan already does seem better.  He can say whatever he wants, and my bet is that he's going to keep K'ing every 3 or 4 ABs, and the home runs will be right there with them.

Colin Wyers (cwyers) at Goat Riders analyzes the Cubs defense.  A couple of non-surprises: Fukudome looks really good, and whether you'd like counting stats or rate stats, Pie has been better this year than Edmonds.

Why does Jay Bruce think he's off to such a hot start?  Sample size.  Really.

The college super-regionals are going on right now--eight three-game series will determine who gets in to the College World Series, which starts next Saturday.  Stanford clinched the first spot with a win over Fullerton last night, and there could be a lot more teams qualifying with wins today.  You can follow the action from one nifty application here.  That link also shows which games are televised, and on which ESPN channel.

Game time is 2:05 CT this afternoon.  The Brewers won't suck today.  I promise.

So, Mike Rivera is batting .500 since I suggested he should play more. I know it's a small sample size (4-for-8), but it'd be a bigger sample size if he played more.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Thanks to Jeff for allowing you to drink straight from the tap with the Win Expectancy Graphs and BR Box Scores over the weekend.

Jim Powell blogged after Saturday's game. He's pretty excited about the homestand so far, and reasonably so.

He also mentions the massive home run Russell Branyan hit Saturday. I was at the game (my first of the season), and from my perspective, it didn't look like the ball actually made the Dew Deck. It looked like it hit near the back of the second deck. Unfortunately, at the ballpark I only got to see it once, and at game speed. Anyone have access to it on video?

Following Saturday's game, Ned Yost took a beating from Beyond the Box Score for allowing Ben Sheets to throw 120 pitches. I understand the logic at play here, but I find myself agreeing with the first commenter, who notes that everything would've been fine if not for the 11 pitch at bat with Lance Berkman, with two outs in the ninth.

Also Sheets related: Another Baseball Blog takes a look at Sheets' hitting and how it impacts a game. He estimates that the difference between Gallardo's hitting (near elite) and Sheets' hitting (near inept) is equivalent to about a .30 difference in ERA. If the swing from top to bottom is that small, maybe I've spent too much time worrying about pitcher hitting.

Dave Pinto notes that Brewer starters are 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA over their last 7 starts. It's probably a little early to say our pitching woes are over, but this is certainly an improvement.

Here's an interesting new stat: The Beane Count. It tracks home runs and walks, by hitters and pitchers, and combines them to form one number to evaluate. The Brewers rank 13th in the NL at present. I rank somewhere near dead last in being able to explain new stats.

While I'm on the topic of interesting stats, Recondite Baseball takes a look at the all time highest and lowest BABIP numbers. Most of these guys aren't huge surprises, but somehow, Gorman Thomas cracked the list on the low end, at #18. How did that happen?

On injuries:

Twins P Nick Blackburn is fine, amazingly, after being hit in the face by a line drive. He may not miss a start.
Hank Blalock had carpal tunnel surgery Friday and will miss at least another month.
J.D. Drew missed a start over the weekend with vertigo.
Padres P Shawn Estes broke his thumb falling down the stairs. The bad jokes here can only escalate.
Angels IF Chone Figgins has been placed on the DL with irritation in his hamstring.
Reds P Josh Fogg has been placed on the DL with a bad back.
Travis Hafner has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
D-Backs 1B Conor Jackson will be out for a few days with a strained quad.
Braves OF Mark Kotsay has been placed on the DL with a strained lower back.
David Ortiz felt something pop in his wrist Saturday and will (maybe already did?) undergo an MRI.

The Brewers aren't the only team that can't win on the road. At The Book blog, MGL notes that the homefield advantage this year is significantly higher than average, and offers some reasons why.

Dugout Central notes a moment from Friday that's indicative of the problem MLB has with confrontational umpires: Seriously, aside from professional wrestling, is there another major sport where this would be tolerated?

If this works out, it'll set a dangerous precedent: Last week, the Braves designated backup C Brayan Pena for assignment, and placed him on waivers, presumably hoping to send him to the minors. The Royals claimed him off waivers, kept him on their roster for a day, then DFA'd him again, hoping to send him to the minors as well. If this is possible, couldn't Pena be claimed and DFA'd by teams needing a AAA catcher every few days for months?

Here's something new to check periodically: Baseball Musings has a daily chart showing the probability Chipper Jones will hit .400.

Oh, and here's some fun with misheard lyrics.

Drink up.

I don't think I've ever been this disappointed with a split of a road series.

Monday's Win Expectancy Graph
Monday's BR Box Score
Monday's BDD Recaps

Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score
Sunday's BDD Recaps

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score
Saturday's BDD Recaps

Friday's Win Expectancy Graph
Friday's BR Box Score
Friday's BDD Recaps

Wow, after four days away, where do I even start? As reported in the fanposts, today the Brewers will announce they've signed Julian Tavarez. Also, while it won't be "announced," it will be strongly implied that the Brewer organization's desperation for reliable bullpen arms has reached a very dangerous stage.

Russell Branyan is back and sharing time at third with Bill Hall. Hall is unhappy, and understandably so, with the loss of playing time to the one guy in all of baseball who strikes out more than he does. Some guy named Eli completely destroyed his credibility by suggesting the Brewers may be ready to DFA Hall. Marty over at Fire Ned Yost is upset by the decision, and is now refusing to spend money on the team until Melvin is fired. Seriously? I was way more upset by the Tavarez move.

Jason Kendall batted eighth yesterday, in an attempt to "shake up the lineup." I know stat guys will say all lineup tinkering is relatively irrelevant, but this one seems especially small.

Remember that error thar J.J. Hardy committed on Friday? Apparently it attempted to destroy Washington.

Phil Rogers puts the Brewers at #22 in most recent power rankings, with the following comment:

In ESPN's most recent power rankings, the Brewers are also #22, with this comment:

It's close, but in this case I'm going to give the "one sentence or less analysis" challenge to Rogers, for actually analyzing something beyond home runs.

This makes his strategic decisions even more puzzling: Apparently Ned Yost has read The Book. I'm still going to guess he doesn't read blogs, but Mariners manager John McLaren does.

It's been five days, but I'm still confused and strangely fascinated by Babes Love Baseball's "sabermetric" analysis of Ryan Braun.

On injuries:

Rockies SS Clint Barmes is on the DL with a sprained MCL.
Fausto Carmona is out around 4 weeks with a strained hip.
Marlins OF Brett Carroll has a severely separated shoulder, partially torn ligaments and a swollen face. He'll be out a while.
Mets OF Ryan Church is still dizzy after getting his second concussion of the season last week.
Rockies OF Brad Hawpe is on the DL with a sore hamstring.
Felix Hernandez missed his start Saturday with soreness in his leg.
Matt Holliday was placed on the DL, also with a sore hamstring.
Andruw Jones will have the surgery he's been delaying on his knee and miss 4-6 weeks.
Padres P Chris Young, who suffered a broken nose via line drive, has other fractures in his face as well and will not be allowed to resume baseball activities for at least 2 weeks.

How do you react when your team is severely underperforming and is consistently painful to watch? Ichiro says you should try a beer from Papua New Guinea. U.S.S. Mariner is on the case.

When you find yourself complaining about the tough start Rickie Weeks is having, consider Reds leadoff hitter Corey Patterson, and his wafer-thin .242 OBP. In a move that has to be at least partially related, Jay Bruce will debut Tuesday.

On the flip side, Lyle Overbay set a Jays franchise record by reaching base in 12 straight plate appearances.

Oh, and Jamie Moyer has finally proven that all 30 MLB teams are capable of swinging and missing at 60 MPH pitches.

Drink up.

Last night, Craig Counsell started at third against a right-handed pitcher, and according to Yost, we can expect more of the same.

"I'm going to have to do it a little more until some of these numbers come up for Billy," Yost said. "His left-handed numbers are as good as you can dream of ... but his right-handed numbers are about as low as they go."

It should be no surprise that Hall is struggling against righties; he's always had a pronounced platoon split.  Taking his career numbers, he's 276/358/498 against lefties and 254/303/451 versus righties.  That makes a lot of sense to me -- the biggest difference is in OBP, reflecting the truly awful pitch selection against RHP, when he can't see the ball as well.

Given the roster right now, a platoon for Billy means more playing time for Counsell.  The problem is, Counsell's not a very good hitter against pitchers with either hand.  He does have better career numbers vRHP--a ~700 OPS instead of a ~650 OPS.  Compare that to Billy's career ~750 OPS vRHP, or even his 713 OPS vRHP in his disappointing 2007 season.

Ultimately, difference like this don't really matter, except that I often eat dinner during games, and I'd prefer not to see Counsell at the plate when I'm trying to digest.

The x-factor here, of course, is Russell Branyan.  Branyan is a lefty, and his career numbers against RHP are 231/332/479 -- an OPS more than 100 points higher than Counsell's.  We lose some with the glove, to be sure, but I suspect that 100 points of OPS is worth it.  Plus, we gain a fearsome late-inning option against RHP on days he doesn't start--that's something we don't currently have, unless you're trying to digest, anyway.

Branyan's minor league numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, since he is the kind of guy who seems to drop off quite a bit between AAA and the majors.  But if we take a look at his splits (as of this writing, they are updated through Tuesday), we see something that screams promotion.  Not only is he OPSing over 1.100, his line against righties is a belief-defying 398/500/776.

Plug those numbers into my nifty new Minor League Equivalency calculator, and find that his equivalent line in Milwaukee would be 341/425/627.  Hell, if he were putting up his current numbers in Double-A, he'd still have an equivalent line 329/413/609.

In general, I love platoons--they are a great way to get solid production out of less-than-solid players, as we did with Menchkins last year.  But a platoon requires more than just a lefty and a righty; put another way, a platoon requires more than Craig Counsell. 

We can make the roster space: Dillon has averaged less than an at-bat per day for the last two weeks, and there's nothing Gwynn can do that Kapler can't (except for pinch-running, and Ned doesn't use him that way).

Ned is being perfectly reasonable in taking playing time away from Bill Hall.  But it's far from clear whether giving that playing time to Craig Counsell is the best decision.

Nashville (3-13 Record) Notes:

Season Record: 3-13, -6.5 GB, 4th place (last) in the PCL’s American North Division

Lost (10-15) @ Albuquerque
Sounds fail to come back after allowing 10 runs in the 2nd inning.
Nic Ungs (L, 1-2), 1.2 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 3 K – 10.32 ERA, Game Score: 6
Russell Branyan-3B, 3-4, HR (3), 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K - .404 BA
Vinny Rottino-C, 2-4, HR (2), R, 3 RBI, SF - .189 BA
Brad Nelson-1B, 2-5, HR (3), 2 R, RBI, GIDP - .333 BA
Tony Gwynn-CF, 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, SB - .500 BA

Huntsville (10-6 overall) Notes:

1st Half Record: 10-6, -2.0 GB, 2nd place in the Southern League’s North Division

Won (10-2) @ Mississippi
Steven Hammond (W,2-1), 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K – 3.98 ERA, Game Score: 63
Matt LaPorta-LF, 2-3, 2B, HR (2), R, 3 RBI, BB, HBP - .275 BA
Alcides Escobar-SS, 2-5, HR (2), 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 GIDP - .210 BA
Cole Gillespie-RF, 1-2, 3B, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB - .209 BA

Brevard County (10-6 overall) Notes:

1st Half Record: 10-6, +2.0 GA, tied for 1st place in the FSL’s East Division

Lost (3-8) vs. Daytona
Michael McClendon (L, 1-1), 7 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – 6.55 ERA, Game Score: 30
Lorenzo Cain-RF, 1-3, 2B, RBI, K, SF - .242
Chuckie Caufield-DH, 1-3, R, BB, K - .282 BA
Kenneth Holmberg-2B, 0-3, 2 K - .243 BA

West Virginia (4-12 overall) Notes:

1st Half Record: 4-12, -7.0 GB, 8th place (last) in the SAL’s Northern Division

Game rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.